Thank you for these eleven years and goodbye Nolife!

It was on April 1st that we learned the bad news… Nolife is over, for good. After a final week on the air, the channel devoted to digital and Japanese entertainment, among others, closed 11 years of an eventful life and unique programs of their kind, after having been a symbol for several generations of geek, otaku, nerds and fans of all kinds of video games, Japanese animation, computers, J-Music and many other things.

Because run and managed by a unique team of enthusiasts over all its years, the end of Nolife’s programs, although potentially expected, marks the end of an adventure… to which Journal du Japon wanted to pay tribute.

A look back at an eleven-year epic

Nolife no Thema, the chain theme, composed by Yûzô KOSHIRO.

Officially launched on June 1, 2007, Nolife is a thematic channel dedicated to Japanese, “geek” and “otaku” cultures. A daring and quite crazy bet led by enthusiasts and for enthusiasts. The channel was first broadcast by the operator Free. Being classified as a “music channel”, it must broadcast at least fifty percent of music in its programming, and of course partly French. From the start, the channel offers a staggering number of programs; if some disappeared over the years, others held on until the end (At the house of Marcus, Dtro & MagicTHE J-Top…). The areas covered are varied and mix pure knowledge and humor, even allowing themselves to launch series which are now extremely well known like Noob.

Sébastien RUCHET, CEO of the channel.

Nolife started with fairly limited monetary capital. Quite quickly, it gradually began to sink financially, despite its growing popularity among spectators. Saved by society Ankama, Nolife was therefore able to survive. But little by little, the crates show the bottom again. Preferring to maintain its independence, an almost total absence of on-air advertising is often “fatal” for a small television channel.

Then came the idea of Nolife Online, the video on demand platform offering to rewatch all the programs broadcast at your leisure, but on your computer and for a fairly modest sum for one month (three to five euros depending on the package chosen). The goal is of course to involve interested viewers in supporting the channel while refusing to give anything in return. Nolife Online had great success with subscribers.

The years and new programs passed, as did new technologies. In addition to its loading bar which underlines the name of the channel (allowing you to know precisely where you are), Nolife can boast of having been one of the first ADSL bouquet channels to have been broadcast in HD.

Alex Pilot, one of the founders.

Nolife Online ended up being abandoned several years later, to make way for a new video-on-demand platform: Noco. This, much more flexible, manages increasingly high video qualities and above all, allows you to distribute the catalog of other companies. It will also be possible to continue subscribing to support the channel on a monthly basis.

Several partnerships have been established over eleven years. Releasethe association MO5, Twitch ; and in Japan, TSSthe company that produces the shows Japan in Motion And Spirit Japan, which showed Japan as it is. And above that, for the J-Music part (more than two thousand three hundred music videos), trust had been established between the labels, even the artists and the channel. The number of artists who have been able to make themselves known internationally and come to visit our country (in conventions or not) thanks to Nolife and Japan in Motion is incalculable.

But now, time passes, and Nolife was less and less able to keep its head above water, despite subscriptions and the arrival of advertising. After being placed in receivership, spectators hoped that the situation would improve. But finally, the news fell on April 1, 2018 and is not an April fool’s joke: Nolife is game over for good, after almost eleven years of good and loyal service. It will broadcast its last special evening the following week, on April 8 and after a heartbreaking “end credits”, the image goes black then returns a few moments later: the signal is scheduled to last until the 15th. But Nolife, it t’s now over… there’s only real life left in life.

Spectator testimonials

Suzuka ASAOKA, another emblematic member.

Anthony : Choosing a single memory of the channel after almost ten years is quite difficult for me. I will therefore allow myself to highlight what was my favorite section: Retro & Magic, which as its name suggests dealt with a subject that is dear to me (need I remind you?): retro video games. I was able to discover dozens of series there (and R&M made me buy more than one game, by the way!), and even rediscovered the one that is now my favorite. To say that this program inspired Gaming Memories, we’re not there yet, but the passion for retro video gaming that surrounds both is the same. The rest of the programs, and therefore the team members behind them, in every possible area, are just as unforgettable to me. But that’s another story…maybe a little too long to tell.

Thank you for everything, Nolife.

Tatiana : I have known Nolife before having access to the channel, by meeting Caroline SEGARRA during the Japan Expo Awards where I was a member of the jury. Then, I was invited to the X JAPAN reunion concert where Alex PILOT And Suzuka ASAOKA came to film for Nolife. I met an incredible team whose passion was as bubbling as mine. I will have to wait many months before the report is broadcast. However, Visual Kei in general remains an important era for me. It remains a great moment for me, even if it is far from being the only one. A French channel which is interested in J-Music in the broad sense, which broadcasts clips, interviews, lives and which provides information on French events, it was invaluable. It’s a great loss, but I think there will be life after Nolife, because their passion, the passion of all of us, still has a lot to give.

Testimonies seen from the outside

Paul : What I remember from Nolife, seen from the eyes of an editor-in-chief only since I was not really a spectator, it is above all this adventure of fans of Japan, of J-Music, of video games, or of simple geeks and nerds, in short everything a somewhat “special” audience in the eyes of the masses, who have been easily made fun of for something like three decades. As you are never as well served as by yourself, many projects were born through these enthusiasts in the 2000s with the rise of the Internet and a growing interest in Japanese pop culture. But few have attempted – and many fewer have succeeded – in the challenge of professionalization around the video game and Japanese worlds. As a globetrotter of these worlds for over 15 years, I have seen more projects die than survive every time they attempted to generate revenue.

Nolife, a TV channel, just that, was therefore unique in its kind.

Juliet : Personally, I met Sébastien RUCHETone of the founders of the channel, during the event organized by Koch Media at the beginning of February. This event had been set up, not only with the aim of presenting certain upcoming games like AOT2 Or Yakuza but also in order to create links between the press and video game publishers and PR agencies. Sebastian was obviously present. Not being an aficionado of TV in general, I have never been a real viewer of Nolife. However, while talking with him, I felt a real passion for Japanese culture and not just for video games. I was also surprised to be able to chat with someone who was kind, patient and above all someone who had a sense of humor. But above all he showed a great open-mindedness, which is not necessarily a common thing these days.

Poster dating from the beginnings of the channel.

Show must go on!

If video games are today a mass market entertainment segment, it is different from J-Music in France, whose difficulties – the decline some would say – have also accompanied the channel in its fall. The crumbling of the audience can also be attributed to the transfer of a television audience to other networks, YouTube to name only the main gravedigger.

Nolife symbolizes the fragility of any passionate project aimed at other passionate people: making a living from your passion and bringing it to life is not an easy thing, especially when this passion speaks to a niche. However, the Nolife team managed to meet this challenge for 11 years. We can say that they failed but we do not share this opinion. First of all because they dared to do something different, where others are satisfied with what was offered to them without looking any further.

So yes, the channel will no longer broadcast and it is a loss, particularly for the democratization of Japanese culture. But now, it is also an additional challenge to be taken up by all journalists and enthusiasts of Japanese culture: to continue where they left off despite themselves.

And finally… we predicted 6 months for them, so they lasted 11 years. Respect, period. And thank you for everything, Nolife!

The “end credits”.